Park Seo-yeon, 34, displays a spoonful of food for the camera during her eating show in her apartment in Incheon, west of Seoul. (REUTERS)
Park Seo-yeon sets the table with dishes of Korean beef, kimchi casserole and rice. Switching on her computer and camera, she begins to eat alone as thousands of viewers watch and chat with her in real time over the Internet.
South Korea's latest fad - gastronomic voyeurism - offers surprising amounts of money to thousands of online diners while serving up a sense of community in the wealthy Asian country's increasingly solitary society.
(REUTERS)
Known as The Diva, Park broadcasts for up to three hours every day from her apartment outside Seoul. During the show, viewers send her virtual balloons worth 100 won (9 U.S. cents) each, giving her an average monthly income of about $9,400.
Park, 34, said the most she earned in one sitting was 1.1 million won ($1,000). She began her show as a hobby three years ago but has since quit her job at a consulting firm and plans to get into retailing.
(REUTERS)
"People enjoy the vicarious pleasure when they can't eat this much or find that food at night or are on a diet," she said minutes before a recent broadcast.
She checked on the chatroom while eating a Korean-style beef tartare called yukhoe.
"Let's eat together. Together!" Park said, responding to a viewer's message that said: "I just rushed off and picked up yukhoe".
South Korea's latest fad - gastronomic voyeurism - offers surprising amounts of money to thousands of online diners while serving up a sense of community in the wealthy Asian country's increasingly solitary society.
(REUTERS)Known as The Diva, Park broadcasts for up to three hours every day from her apartment outside Seoul. During the show, viewers send her virtual balloons worth 100 won (9 U.S. cents) each, giving her an average monthly income of about $9,400.
Park, 34, said the most she earned in one sitting was 1.1 million won ($1,000). She began her show as a hobby three years ago but has since quit her job at a consulting firm and plans to get into retailing.
(REUTERS)"People enjoy the vicarious pleasure when they can't eat this much or find that food at night or are on a diet," she said minutes before a recent broadcast.
She checked on the chatroom while eating a Korean-style beef tartare called yukhoe.
"Let's eat together. Together!" Park said, responding to a viewer's message that said: "I just rushed off and picked up yukhoe".
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